


Of first and second meetings

by yumenohateni



Category: Gokusen (TV)
Genre: Bullying, First Meetings, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23990485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yumenohateni/pseuds/yumenohateni
Summary: Ryu is being bullied but, luckily for him, the school’s psycho saves him.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Of first and second meetings

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is one short one-shot I wrote back in 2012, I think. I was hoping I’d come up with some ideas to continue the story but it never happened so I decided to post it now as it is.
> 
>  **Edit:** I wrote a prequel to this fic ➡ [Of bento boxes, bullying and pretending not to care](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25517140)

Ryu was used to being bullied, but that didn’t make it any less difficult or painful to deal with. At first, the kids would only mock him because he was the son of the police commissioner, or because his clothes were too clean and neat, or simply because he was weird and bullies don’t like weird people. With time, the mocking morphed into shoving and pushing and then into full-fledged fights. Never mind that Ryu was always outnumbered and ended up losing no matter how much he fought back. In class he could relax a little bit but, as soon as he stepped out of school, every day’s hell would begin.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Sakuraba, the one with the bowl cut and the black backpack, said.

“It seems that little Ryu here hasn’t learned yesterday’s lesson,” Kawashima, the leader of the gang and the bulkiest of them all, said. “You will have to pay for trespassing on our territories, kid.”

Ryu wanted to laugh. _All four_ of them were kids. “Since when is every street in this neighborhood part of your territory?” Ryu instead asked with a scowl.

“Since the moment we don’t like little rich brats like you walking through our neighborhood as if he owned everything,” Toyo answered. He was Kawashima’s best friend and right hand. Toyo gave Ryu a push on his right shoulder that sent him to the floor. “Now, give us the money and we’ll spare you a few punches.”

Ryu pushed himself up with his palms against the ground. His hair covered his face like a curtain. “Then you’ll have to give me all of them because I’m not giving you anything,” Ryu spat out defiantly.

That earned him a few kicks to his sides and, since he was on the floor, the only thing he could do was curl up in on himself and try not to cry in pain every time they hit a rib. Suddenly, a loud whistle echoed all around the alley.

“Wow, that’s some fun you’re having there,” a boy with long black hair commented as he slowly stepped closer to the group of kids. “It’s not fair to beat people up when they are outnumbered, you know?” the boy asked with a mocking smile. He had his hands in his pants’ pockets and was chewing on some gum. His whole posture and attitude was relaxed—the opposite of Ryu’s, who was lying on the floor clutching his bent legs to his chest.

The gang, that until then had been too occupied kicking Ryu to notice the newcomer approaching them, turned around and faced him. The boy was Yabuki Hayato; he was a year older than them and had been transferred two weeks before. Rumor had it that he had beaten up four kids to a pulp at the same time when he was back in his former school. All because one of them had made a joke about Yabuki’s mother and her illness. Needless to say, no one dared to even speak to him except for that little boy— _Takeda_ , Ryu’s mind supplied—that was always following him around.

“You don’t really want to stick your nose in this, Yabuki,” Kawashima threatened while stepping closer to the older boy. The leader was trying to look menacing, but anyone who knew him at least a little bit could say that the shaking of his hands was actually due to fear, not anger.

“This is none of your business.”

“Oh, it _is_ my business,” Yabuki retorted. Then he flashed the other boy a peace sign and bent his fingers. “It became my business the moment you started messing with my friend here,” Yabuki continued with a raised eyebrow while nodding towards Ryu, who was still sitting on the floor, hugging his knees. Ryu then looked up and glanced at Yabuki when he realized the older boy was talking about him.

For a split second, Yabuki’s face softened with a small smile while he stared down and back at Ryu, yet, when he looked up to look at Kawashima, his eyes hardened once again.

The members of the gang were too shocked to answer, but the most shocked was Kawashima himself. Odagiri didn’t have friends; that was just a fact of life. When had that little brat become friends with Yabuki?

The first one to flee was Sakuraba, and then the remaining two followed suit as if too scared to be left behind in the hands of Yabuki.

“I guess they are not going to bother you anymore,” the taller one joked while helping Ryu get up on his feet. “Sometimes being a rumored psycho can come in handy.” Then the boy extended a hand western-style and said, “I’m Yabuki, by the way.”

“Odagiri,” the smaller one curtly replied.

“Can you walk?” Yabuki asked him and Ryu nodded in response.

After a few minutes of walking in silence Ryu asked, curious about the answer, “Why did you help me?”

“You don’t remember, do you?” Yabuki asked back, a crooked smile plastered on his face. Ryu simply blinked back at him. “On my first day here you shared your homemade lunch with me. You didn’t even know me, yet you gave me half of your lunch because I had nothing to eat,” the taller boy chuckled at the memory and then continued. “I felt that I owed it to you and Yabuki Hayato doesn’t owe things to anybody. That’s why I helped you,” Yabuki finished off with a shrug and Ryu nodded, now remembering the episode.

They kept on walking until they reached the park where they had to part ways.

“Thanks,” Ryu muttered, looking at the other boy's eyes.

Yabuki held his gaze and said, “No problem.” Then he started walking away while waving his hand carelessly. Ryu looked at the other’s antics amusedly and started walking in the opposite direction when he remembered something.

“Hey!” he shouted to the other boy’s back. “Is it true?”

Yabuki turned around with a confused frown on his face.

“What?” he asked, both his hands in his pants’ pockets.

“The rumor,” Ryu elaborated. “Is it true?”

Yabuki gave him a secretive smile and then said with a shrug, “Who knows?” Then he turned around and started to walk away once again.

Ryu watched the older boy walk away and felt laughter bubbling up in his chest for the first time in a long while. He let it all out.


End file.
